Woman on the Subway
by Cassie Bones
Summary: What if Beckett and Castle had met before, outside of New York, and neither had known it? Rated T fro implied nudity. Based on a post on Tumblr. Mine is theboneheadcastillion, btw.


**I wrote this in reaction to a post on Tumblr. Y'all know the one; with Castle saying, "I fall in love with women on the subway," and Stana Katic's ATP shot with her standing in the middle of a crowded subway train. Anyways, I decided to write this in tandem with that photo set. I hope y'all enjoy!**

**Woman on the Subway**

"We've met before."

His words are sudden and very loud compared to the dark, quiet bedroom. He startles Kate so much that she jumps a bit in his arms. They're lying in his bedroom, cuddled up under a half dozen blankets in a post-coital glow. The curtains are pulled aside so they can see the light snow drifting down over Manhattan. His arm is wrapped around her waist and her back is to him.

"Of course we've met before," she groans, annoyed with him for breaking the silence when she was so close to sleep. "We met four years ago, Castle. Now, go to sleep."

"Not what I meant," Castle says, tightening her hold on him, burying his nose in her sweet-smelling hair. "I mean, we've met _before_. Before the copycat murders, before you even became a detective, I imagine. I think you were still in Stanford at the time. You were wearing a college sweatshirt."

Kate was silent for a moment, then: "I was?"

Castle smiled into her hair, looking back on the memory of the young girl in the oversized Stanford hoodie, her nose stuck in some worn-out book.

"Yeah," he said, "and I remember your hair was up and you had an iPod in your ears. You were reading Dickens, as well."

"Which one?"

"A Tale of Two Cities; classic."

Kate nodded. "I have that one…somewhere. It was my mom's. It was one of her favorites."

"I could see that. It was all worn out like she'd read it a million times."

"That's probably not even close to the number of times it'd been read by the time it got to my hands. I had to tape it together at one point."

"Sounds like a good book."

"It was…" she was silent again, before turning in his arms and looking him in the eye. "I don't remember meeting you before the copycat case. Where were we?"

Rick smiled, looking back. "Los Angeles, I think."

"What would I have been doing in…oh! I remember now! I was visiting some friends at UCLA! They invited me to stay for the weekend; I remember, now…What were _you_ doing there?"

"I was on my way to pick up Alexis from Meredith. She got some minor role in a movie and I was forced to go to the set to pick her up. We were taking the subway at the time."

Kate nodded. "I still don't remember meeting any Richard Castle on my trip. And I would have known if it was you; I'd already started reading your books by that point."

"Well, I was in disguise, naturally," Castle answered, "my latest book had just come out and I didn't want to be recognized. You wouldn't believe how many producers had asked me about making my books movies. At that point, with my newly ex-wife as an actress, I really didn't _want_ any movies just yet. And the crazed fans weren't exactly a day in the park either. I had a million Goth fans for that one. They were scary, to say the least. Anyway, I told you my name was…

"_Alexander Poe, nice to meet you." Kate looked up from her book at the man standing in front of her, grinning charmingly. His hand was out for her to take. She didn't._

"_Um…hi?" she said, confused as to why this man was talking to her. Geez, she really _was_ as jaded New Yorker._

_Castle, or _Alexander_, ran his hand through his hair, awkwardly. "Um…that's a pretty good book," he said, lamely._

_Kate's eyebrows lifted. "Um…yeah, it is."_

"'_It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way-in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.'," he quoted with a cocky grin._

"_Wow…good memory," Kate replied, genuinely impressed._

"_Thanks," Castle said, "I try. I must have read that one a hundred times."_

_Kate nodded, taking one headphone out of her ear. "Really? I think I've got you beat." She held up the book, which was taped together with silver duct tape at the spine. "It was brand new when my mother bought it."_

_Castle let out a low whistle. "Impressive. So, you're _not_ reading that for class, then?"_

_Kate shook her head. "No, just because. It's one of my mom's favorites, so she lent it to me to read. She had no idea I've already read it. But it never hurts to have a good book around, right."_

_Castle nodded. "So, where are you from?"_

"_How do you know I'm not from around here?"_

"_Your accent and your shoes."_

"_My _shoes_?" _

"_Yeah, nobody wears heels like that in LA, trust me. Those are more for a walk around Tribeca; fashionable and comfortable, I bet."_

"_Yeah…why do you know so much about women's shoes?" There was a hint of an amused smirk on her face._

"_My ex-wife's shoe collection filled our entire walk-in closet, and two drawers! She could talk on and on about all the different kinds of shoes and where and when it was appropriate to wear them. I had nightmares for months after our divorce."_

_Kate laughed and Castle smiled. She had the cutest laugh, but she was far too young for him._

"_So, where are you from, again?" he asked._

"_Again? I don't recall saying, Mr. Poe, but if you must know, I'm from New York." _

"_Really? Well, isn't that funny? So am I!" He laughed. _

"_Oh, is that so? What are you doing here, then?" _

_He stopped laughing. Should he tell her about Alexis? Well, why not? It's not like he was ever going to see her again. He just wanted to make conversation with someone. And, of course, he chose the one person from New York to converse with._

"_I'm picking up my daughter from her mother's house." He said it simply, as if he did not care at all what this beautiful stranger thought of him._

_Kate just nodded. "Does she like shoes?" she joked, grinning at him._

_Castle sighed. "No, _thank God_; Lexie is a little bit more sensible than her mother. Her thing is beanie babies." He pulled a frog out of his pocket to show her. "I got her this one to lure her away from her mother."_

"_They're close?"_

"_Not exactly. Mer hasn't always been around-she left when Lex was barely a year old-so whenever Lexie is around her for any amount of time, she never wants to leave her side. She has nearly as many beanie babies as plane tickets now."_

_Kate nods. "I understand that. I've felt the same around my own mother. It nearly killed both of us when I left for college. I miss her every day."_

_Castle nodded, pocketing the little green frog once more. He noticed that, at every mention of her mother, Kate's eyes looked away from him. He wondered why._

_It was then that the automated voice for the stop sounded over the dim chatter of the subway train. Kate's eyes widened._

"_Oh, that's my stop!" He stuck the Dickens book in her back pocket and leaned down to grab the handle of a small duffle bag at her feet that Castle hadn't even noticed until now. "It was nice talking with you, Mr. Poe. Maybe I'll see you around." _

_He wanted to say something back, ask for her name, or her number, but a large group of passengers came in between them, practically carrying her out of the train. And then she was gone and the train was moving once more. _

_It was like she was never there at all._

"I kept my eyes peeled the entire time I was in LA. I looked all over for you, even when I had Alexis on my leg, chattering away about her weekend with her mother. I kept hoping that I'd see you again, and maybe I'd be able to get your name, but no such luck."

Kate looked up at him, wide-eyed. "So when you said to Ryan and Espo that you'd fallen in love with women on the subway…"

"I was talking about you; just you. You were the only woman I've ever fallen in love with like that. And I didn't even know you're name back then." Kate rolled her eyes. "It's true! The love back then was fleeting, once I realized how ridiculous it was, but I know I felt something for you; something very strong."

"That's called _lust_, Castle. Not love."

"I don't think so, Kate. I know what lust is, and while I have that with you, as well as love, I don't think that was all it was. Besides, I knew what love was back then-I'd had it already with Kyra and Meredith (sorta). And now I have the same feeling all over again, for the same person." He laid a sweet kiss on her lips, holding her tighter. Kate melted into his embrace.

"You're such a big softy," she teased.

"And you love that about me."

"I do." She kissed his jaw. "So, when did you realize that it was me on that subway?"

"Just now, actually."

Kate elbowed him in the ribs. Hard. "You've been thinking about another woman while we're in bed together?"

"No!" Castle argued, running his chest, gingerly. "Not really! I was thinking about you! Really! Then it just clicked and I knew that I'd met you before all the shadowing and Nikki Heat stuff started. I just thought it was at one of my book signings, but then I realized it was on that train. It's not like I was imagining the mystery woman while we were-"

She placed her hand over his mouth, stopping him, mid-sentence. "Okay, Castle, I get it. One more word from you and you're sleeping on the couch."

Castle opened his mouth to argue that this was _his_ apartment, but he knew it was futile; Kate would have no problem kicking him out of bed, no matter whose it was.

So, he just nudged her shoulder, laying sweet kisses there, trying to win her back with his lips, grinning cockily as she melted back into his embrace.

"I love you, Kate," he said, softly, in her ear.

"Mmm," Kate moaned, "I love you, too, Castle." She reached up and kissed him, lovingly, before settling against his chest. "Now, go to sleep."

"Yes, Ma'am," he said, resting his cheek on the top of her head.

He was smiling because, though she'd never believe it and would probably call him ridiculous for even _thinking _it, they were meant to be together, as proven by their chance encounter on that subway train in LA and then the second encounter that brought on their four-year long partnership, that _then_ lead to now, with them in his bed, wrapped around each other, trading kisses and 'I love you's.

He couldn't be happier. And neither could she.

**So, tell me what you think! Was it good? Bad? Medium? I know I just added that book but there had to be an ice breaker, right? Anyways, please please please please REVIEW!**


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